The Purple Cloud

One of the great last-man stories, M. P. Shiel’s 1901 novel opens with a race to the North Pole and a prophecy that whoever reaches it first will unleash catastrophe. Adam Jeffson wins that prize and returns to find the world emptied by a drifting cloud of purple vapor that has killed nearly everything that breathes. Alone on a silent planet, he wanders across Europe, sets fire to great cities out of grief and boredom, and slides toward madness while building himself an enormous palace. Then he finds a single living woman, and has to decide whether the human story deserves to begin again. Written in feverish, almost biblical prose, it shaped decades of apocalyptic fiction that came after. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.